Daughter of Trump’s chief of staff works at firm that lobbies for Republika Srpska

{"text":[[{"start":8.272,"text":"The daughter of Donald Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles is working for a US lobbying firm that signed a $35,000-a-month contract to represent Republika Srpska, the Balkan entity at the centre of new dispute about conflicts of interest inside the White House."}],[{"start":24.708,"text":"Katie Wiles is a partner at Continental Strategy, which signed its contract to lobby for the self-governing entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina in February, according to federal filings."}],[{"start":35.684,"text":"The firm said she had visited Republika Srpska in connection with a different contract, adding that she had not lobbied US officials on behalf of the enclave."}],[{"start":85.01,"text":"In September, Susie Wiles met Željka Cvijanović, the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, at the White House, according to a post on Cvijanović’s social media account."}],[{"start":85.01,"text":"“It was a pleasure to speak today at the White House with Susie Wiles, Chief of Staff and closest collaborator of US President Donald Trump, about the situation in BiH and the region,” Cvijanović wrote of the meeting, which took place weeks ahead of elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":81.2,"text":"A White House official said the request for Susie Wiles to meet with Cvijanović came from Alex Garcia, a partner at Continental Strategy who served as deputy political director of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign."}],[{"start":85.01,"text":"The White House chief of staff did not discuss work matters with her daughters, the official said."}],[{"start":91.42,"text":"Continental Strategy said that Garcia was registered to lobby on behalf of Republika Srpska and was present in the region during elections on October 4. Garcia was the only person with the firm who had interacted with the US government in relation to Republika Srpska, it said."}],[{"start":107.92,"text":"The firm said Katie Wiles visited the enclave in mid-August on behalf of a US company that was conducting a feasibility study in the region. Wiles provided communications support for that company, but had never spoken with any US government officials about Republika Srpska, it said."}],[{"start":123.145,"text":"The revelations are likely to raise further questions about lobbying ties between members of Trump’s inner circle on behalf of Republika Srpska."}],[{"start":131.342,"text":"On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that longstanding Trump aides Chris LaCivita and James Blair were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide election advice to the Serb-majority entity ahead of elections last Sunday."}],[{"start":145.56,"text":"Trump later distanced himself from LaCivita, his former campaign manager, and Blair, who served as deputy White House chief of staff until recently."}],[{"start":154.17,"text":"“I do not have any idea who else they work for but will, on reflection, ask them and, if there’s a conflict, I will terminate them, immediately!” Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday, adding that the pair no longer worked for him."}],[{"start":168.79,"text":"Continental was founded by Carlos Trujillo, an adviser on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign who served as US ambassador to the Organization of American States during the president’s first term."}],[{"start":180.228,"text":"Over the past two years, Republika Srpska has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Maga-aligned lobbyists, seeking to lift sanctions on Bosnian Serb political figures and to promote a re-examination of the Dayton peace accords, which ended the war in Bosnia in 1995."}],[{"start":196.12,"text":"In October, the Trump administration lifted sanctions on Milorad Dodik, the ultranationalist former president of Republika Srpska who has made repeated calls for the enclave to secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina."}],[{"start":214.09,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1791516384_9902.mp3"}